I love porches, front or back, with or without swings, I love them all.

During the summer I let the hedges in by my front porch get tall so I can sit in the afternoon, drink a Diet Coke and read my mail. In the mornings I like to sit on my back porch and drink my coffee. So naturally when I was flipping through my latest Southern Living magazine I stopped at the article titled Mississippi&8217;s Best Porch.

Guess what?

They were right it was a perfect back porch and the pictures didn&8217;t do it justice.

I know that there is more to it because I&8217;ve had the pleasure of sitting on that porch. I&8217;ve sipped coffee, martinis and iced tea on it. It sits up high over the backyard and you can rock in a rocking chair and quickly forget you are even in downtown Natchez.

The conversation there is always quick-witted and full of laughter. There are huge Stag ferns hanging in baskets and lush orchids to be found on the tables.

Of course the best part about the porch is the couple who live there &8212; Valerie and John Bergeron. The back porch sits over what the magazine refers to as the downstairs loggia, that&8217;s just fancy words for another fabulous porch outside their four B & B rooms.

It seems that every time I pick up a new Southern Living magazine there is something in there about Natchez and, of course, that is good news. I was happy to see that of the 50 Top Shops in the South that three were from Mississippi, although none from Natchez. They must have been to busy taking pictures at Pleasant Hill to go shopping because they missed some wonderful places here in Natchez. Not to worry, I e-mailed them and told them all the great places we have and invited them back.

I have heard from several of the local homeowners who had houses on the Fall Pilgrimage that they were pretty busy during the recent weeks. My friends Joe and Cindy Meng, who own the Wigwam, were one example. The Wigwam is an interesting house to me I guess because I am lucky enough to be considered part of the Meng-Greer family and so are my kids. I&8217;m sorry that tourists only got to marvel at the architecture and hand-painted mural on the ballroom ceiling. How funny it would be to see their faces when all six of their children are home with a son-in-law, extra dog and tons of friends piled up in there and laughter shakes the plaster dust loose. Through high school and even now as a senior in college my Holly has spent her share of nights at the &8220;Wam.&8221; Cindy told me once that she just waits to see who all comes down for breakfast and that&8217;s when she knows who is there.

I believe that Natchez is like some of our antebellum homes. She has seen some hard times and there have many things that have chipped away at her foundation and made the plaster dust fly. Personally I thought when IP closed that might be the final chapter for us but when I see the new Doctors Pavillon, new homes being built, new businesses coming in and old ones getting stronger. Well, I realize now that Natchez is like most Southern women, lovely to look at, sweet to talk too and filled with a steely determination to survive, not just to survive but to do better and all of us are responsible for her helping her do just that.

Christina Hall

can be reached by e-mail at

chritsina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com

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